Heating furnace



' Feb. 26, 1929. 1,703,676 L. LEE

HEATING FURNACE Filed Feb. 19. 192':

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UNITED STAT-Es LEIF LEE, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

HEATING FURNACE.

Application tiled February 19, 1927. Serial No. 169,548.

This invention relates to heating furnaces and particularly for the heating ofsheets, pairs of packs in sheet rolling. 'v

I provide a simple and effective supporting means within a furnace chamber for heating the material, which is hereinafter referred to as sheet material for convenience.

I employ a support which is preferably in the form of a spider, and which is rotatable 1o about a horizontally extending axis. In the preferred form the furnace chamber has an inlet and an` outlet on dianietrically opposite sides, the sheet material being fed into one side and out the other. During'its travel i5, through the furnace it lies between adjacent arms of the spider. As the spider rotates the sheet carried from the horizontal position at which it enters the furnace up to a vertical position, and then is again returned to the horizontal position by continued rotation of the spider. The sheet material is delivered upside down relative to its position when it enters the furnace.

Preferably the heating means is arranged to provide a downward sweep of heating gases over the sheet material. My invention assures the uniform heating of the sheet material and there is no danger of them being delivered with black spots. The material is on edge during part of its travel through the furnace and therefore all loose surface. material will i fall off.

The spider is preferably cooled either by water or by air.

If desired, supplemental material handling means may be employed in connection with the spider'. This supplemental handling means preferably takes the form of material .engaging means lying between the arms of the spider and adapted for moving it in a direction other than the direction of rotation of the spider.

My improved furnace is preferably placed with the line of travel of the material through the furnace lying Ygenerally parallel to the axes of the sheet rolls. A doubler is preferably placed adjacent the furnace inlet. In this manner the material may be expeditiously handled and the entire rolling operation may be speeded up.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the present preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section taken through a furnace embodying the invention and on the line I-I of Figure 2, and

Figure 1.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line II-II of Figure 1, y

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a furnace structure comprising a combustion chamber 2- and a heating chamber 3 divided by a bridge wall-1. The heating' chamber 3 has a material inlet 5 and an outlet 6. The material is carried through the furnace by a spider which is mounted on a hollow shaft 7. The shaft is carried in bearings 8 and has an overhung portion which extends into the furnace. The shaft carries a worm wheel 9 meshing with a worm 10 driven from any suitable source of power.

The overhang end of the shaft 7 carries a hub casting 11. This casting has a central portion 12 and spaced apartflanged portions 13. The arms of the spider are made of U- shaped members 14 tangent-ially Varranged about the hub casting 11. These members may be made of bar stock or of tubing, as desired.

The sheet material S is supplied through the opening 5 and rests on one of the spider arms 14. The spider rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure l and the material is gradually moved toward the vertical position as' the spider carries it upwardly. The edge of the sheet engages the peripheries of the iianges 13. When the sheet material passes the vertical plane intersecting the axis of the shaft 7, it Hops from engagementwith one arm of the spider into engagement with the adjacent arm. This is shown in This movement aids in the removal of'loose or adherent material from the surface of the sheets. combustion'gases those portions of the sheet material which were first in engagement with a spider arm, thus ensuring the absence of black spots from the heated material,

The combustion gases sweep over the bridge wall 2 and move downwardly through the combustion chamber 3 to outlets 15 communicating with a stack connection 16.

A central tube 17 extends within the hollow shaft 7 to a point adjacent its inner end. A cooling fluid, such as air 01 water, may be supplied therethrough to cool the shaft and the spider. It is not desirable to cool the anges 13 or the U-shaped arms 14 excessively, as this would produce black spots on the sheet material. Accordingly, I prefer to employ spacers on the arms. These spacers take the form ofwasher-like members 18 made of sheet material and placed over the outside of It also exposes to the Y While I have shown and described the luresent rpreferred form of my mventlon,Itv "-d heY understood that it may be otherwise embodied Within the scope of the followmg elms;

I (31mm l. 11n' a: heajmg fiunce, a spider having v arms adapted? for supporting.material n the furnace, means whereby' the arms may be Lvesve cooled' and spacers; 0n the' 'rms 'effective for holding material spaced fom fthe" Cooled p01`- 2. v In a: heatngfurnace, a rotatable spider having arms adapted for supporting mateliraln the' furnace, the alms being adapted fel cooling, and Washer like members fitting ovefthealms and' e'e'etve for holding material out of direct Contact With the arms, 

